India
Source: www.indianexpress.com

Union minister Prakash Javadekar, speaking at the 5th BRICS Minister of Environment Meeting held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, said India has already reduced its "energy intensity by 25 per cent".

Acknowledging the importance of urban environmental management for improving the quality of life in cities, the environment ministers of BRICS countries on Friday agreed to work together to resolve the multifaceted environmental issues faced by cities in the five-nation association.

Advertising Union minister Prakash Javadekar, speaking at the 5th BRICS Minister of Environment Meeting held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, said India has already reduced its "energy intensity by 25 per cent".

The two-day BRICS Joint Working Group on Environment meeting issued a ministerial declaration highlighting key initiatives including the Partnership on Urban Environmental Sustainability Initiative to share knowledge and experience on important issues as waste management, cogeneration, reverse logistics, sanitation, urban air quality, urban green areas, BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology Cooperation Platform for innovations, knowledge sharing and capacity building, and Clean River of BRICS program for improvement of river ecology and combating marine litter.

"We have achieved reducing energy intensity by 25 per cent and already 78GW of renewable energy has been made possible, while at the same time forest cover has increased by nearly 15,000 sq km and tree cover outside the forest is increasing rapidly," Javadekar said.
Stressing

Advertising the key role played by BRICS countries, he said, "All five countries are rising and have many experiences to share, and these experiences will definitely help all the economies to improve further in our climate action efforts and protecting environment, while ensuring growth at the same time."

The ministers agreed to establish and strengthen concrete mechanisms of implementation of the cooperation initiatives, with special focus on action-oriented cooperation. The key themes of urban environmental management, contaminated areas and soil remediation, water quality, circular economy in context of sustainable consumption and production, marine litter and biodiversity were agreed to be integrated into BRICS cooperation initiatives.

South Africa
Source: www.environment.gov.za

Honourable Minister Ricardo Salles, Minister of Environment of the Federative Republic of Brazil;
Honourable Minister Dmitry Kobylkin, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation,
Honourable Minister Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Republic of India,
Honourable Vice Minister Runqui Huang, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China;
Ms Claudia Prates of the New Development Bank;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Senior Officials,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me a great pleasure to be attending the fifth BRICS Ministers of Environment meeting. First, let me start by extending my congratulations to you, Minister Ricardo Salles on Brazil's assumption of the Chair of the BRICS Ministers of Environment Forum and for hosting the 5th meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Environment in this beautiful city of São Paulo. I am also grateful and honoured for the warm hospitality accorded to us by the Federative Republic of Brazil.

As we are gathered here today, this meeting represents yet another significant chapter in environmental cooperation amongst the BRICS Member States following the successful 4th BRICS Environment Ministers meeting that South Africa hosted last year, in addition to signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Environmental Cooperation during the 10th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg last year.

Maintaining economic growth, while creating sustainable livable cities for all, has been regarded as the biggest urban challenge facing many countries today. Many cities are still faced with environmental degradation and pollution, traffic congestion, inadequate urban infrastructure, and challenges in the provision of basic services to all, such as water supply, sanitation, and waste management.

One of the main issues for today's cities is how to effectively factor-in the benefits provided by ecosystem services, how to counteract the depletion of natural resources and biodiversity loss, and how to deal with various forms of pollution and waste. Also, cities have responsibilities to mitigate to and adapt to climate change, whilst prioritising public health and improving quality of life for citizens.

We are well aware that the poor are the ones who are most affected by the environment issues such as poor air quality, inadequate waste management and pollution.

It is recognized that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Africa's Agenda 2063 will not be achieved if we do not protect, manage and utilize natural resources sustainably. The agenda emphasizes our responsibility to protect our rich natural resources for present and future generations, as these will provide an opportunity for prosperity and economic and social progress through the responsible stewardship of our environment.



With respect to the proposed theme of "Contribution of urban environmental management to improving the quality of life in the cities", South Africa is of the view that Sustainable Development Goal number 11 relates to the theme in order to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. This goal is linked to and responds to a number of other SDGs including the ending poverty and hunger, healthy lives and promotion of well-being, taking action to address climate change, promoting sustainable consumption and production and others.

Urbanisation is increasingly acknowledged as a mega global trend requiring the current urgent and cohesive international response. In line with SDG 11 and the New Urban Agenda, South Africa's national urban policy, the Integrated Urban Development Framework, guides transformation of urban space in such a manner so as to promote inclusive social and economic development, whilst promoting urban resilience and protection of the urban environment.

We believe that in order to create productive, inclusive, and livable cities, planning and land-use management practices must actively integrate infrastructure investment, public transport and human settlements. South Africa has prioritized informal settlement upgrading because we feel strongly that it supports community development, better urban management, and improvement in people's lives.

South Africa's Constitution recognises that everyone has a right to an environment that is not harmful to human health and well-being, and to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, This also resonates with South Africa's National Development Plan (NDP) vision for "transition to an environmentally sustainable, climate change resilient, low-carbon economy and just society" by 2030. Our NDP highlights the elements of decent living to include among others access to a clean environment, employment, healthcare, water, sanitation, electricity, and transport amongst others. These issues are regarded as critical components of sustainable cities and therefore are a focus of many development programmes in the country.

As developing countries with rapidly urbanizing populations, BRICS nations stand to learn a lot from each other in sharing innovative policies, best practices in improving and managing the urban environment.

South Africa is in full support of the BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology (BEST) Platform, Clean Rivers Umbrella Programme and the Partnership for Urban Environment Sustainability Initiative. We look forward to reflecting on progress and how best to take these important initiatives forward.

South Africa also welcomes the focus of BRICS on combating of marine litter and recognises that this is a key issue facing our world today. BRICS countries could learn and benefit from sharing our national experiences and programmes on dealing with this challenge.

South Africa is looking forward to discussing and agreeing on the implementation of the signed BRICS Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Environmental Cooperation, which lists sustainable development, climate change, biodiversity management, air quality management as well as waste management as agreed upon areas of cooperation amongst BRICS countries.

In conclusion, once again thank you honourable Minister Salles for the warm welcome and we are looking forward to fruitful deliberations here in Sao Paulo!

I thank you.

China
Source: www.china.org.cn

BRASILIA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The China-Brazil relationship is a model for South-South cooperation, Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Yang Wanming said.

That cooperation has a solid foundation, a great potential and broad prospects, said Yang during an interview with Xinhua.

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-Brazil diplomatic relations, the ambassador mentioned the salient moments of the two countries' diplomatic ties, which started in August 1974.

In 1993, Brazil became the first country to establish a strategic partnership with China, and in 2012 that partnership was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic one.

Since 2009, China has been Brazil's largest trading partner and the main destination country for Brazilian exports.

In 45 years, he said, mutual political trust has deepened and pragmatic cooperation, as well as increasingly dynamic people-to-people and cultural exchanges, have paid off.

Yang said that China and Brazil have broad and profound shared strategic interests such as the promotion of global governance, and a bigger say of developing countries in international affairs.

He also mentioned multilateralism promotion, the establishment and improvement of international and regional cooperation mechanisms and the protection of the United Nations' authority.

When China opened the door for Brazil's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, Brazil responded positively, he said.

The relationship prospects are also good, according to the ambassador.

Since the new administration in Brazil began, he said, the ties have maintained a steady and healthy rhythm, and cooperation in several areas have continued.

In Yang's eyes, the new Brazilian government attaches great importance to the cooperation with China and is willing to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership even more.

Moreover, Yang said that both countries could boost cooperation in technology areas such as satellites, artificial intelligence, the internet of things and 5G, and in the agriculture, tourism and sports sectors.

In November, Brazil will host the 11th BRICS summit, attended by the heads of state of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The ambassador said that in the summit, China and Brazil will strengthen communication and coordination in topics such as the cooperation among BRICS countries, the deepening of global governance and the response to the changes in the international and regional landscape. Enditem

Russia
Source: eng.globalaffairs.ru

The current debate on the world order's future mostly boils down to two opposite points of view. The first one presupposes that after the Cold War the world has finally transitioned to a liberal world order. Its supporters describe it as a 'rules-based order', implying that the rules are laid down by the community of Western states, with its stability shored up by the West's military, economic, and moral superiority. They avoid calling the world unipolar, instead emphasizing how the liberal model benefits everyone and that it is not poles that are important, but effective rules and the prosperity generated by international stability and interdependence. The other, directly opposite, point of view argues that the liberal world order is unstable and on the verge of a crisis. Its proponents indicate that it is actually a unipolar world order based on the hegemony of the US and its allies. According to this point of view, the unipolar model is unlikely to have any historical chance, being undermined by emerging centres of power like BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and others. They also doubt the efficiency of the rules of the game implied by the liberal model. As an alternative, they see a multipolar (polycentric) world — a community of equal partners, with the UN and other international institutions ensuring its democratic nature.

Interestingly, at least two other models were on the sidelines of the discussion until recently. One of these suggests a world without poles, a chaotic and fast-flowing order, or a war of all against all that goes hand in hand with the collapse of the habitual institutions (from sovereign nation states to classical capitalism). This is a crisis scenario that leads not so much to a new balance as to an all-out reset of the institutions, power, production modes, and international relations. But even though this model wins over by a promise of breaking the mould, it was mostly confined to journalistic and academic writings.

The second model seems more familiar. It suggests building a new bipolarity. Until not a very long time ago, it was courting much scepticism merely by virtue of there being no adequate candidates for the role of the second pole. Unlike multipolarity with its non-explicit rivalry and competition, bipolarity implies a confrontation between two concrete camps. Therefore, this system can be regarded as more structured and stable. However, hardly anybody wanted to lead it until recently, with all 'aspirants' preferring the comfort of the post-bipolar world and promoting either the liberal model (EU, Japan, South Korea and others) or a multipolar arrangement (Russia, China, India and others). All the while, each of them was enjoying quite tangible perks that went along with the de facto existing unipolar world.

The problem is that the current international realities are increasingly cutting the ground from under this comfortable environment, inducing crystallization of two camps with a prospect of choosing between them. Contrary to expectations, the key destroyer of the existing postbipolar order is not a new ascending power but a global leader, which, in theory, should be clinging to the status quo tooth and nail. We are witnessing a unique situation in international relations, where a global leader is working hard to transform the existing order, its motive being either the wish to control the change for its own benefit, or the fear, real or imaginary, of the new centres of power, or a series of failures in the control system that generate system errors in key political decision-making. The big question is, naturally, the longevity of what is happening. Some are tempted to shrug off the destructive trends as the eccentric US president's pranks and hope that things will return to the old rut after the next change of guard in Washington. But the magnitude of developments is evidence that the current trends are unlikely to remain without consequence, the more so that the major players are not what they were before. China is too big for the old order, Russia is too assertive and independent for it, and the EU is becoming increasingly autonomous.

The developments are a nontrivial challenge for Russia's foreign policy. They are also generating a series of purely research questions. For instance, what will the configuration of the world order be in the future? What scenarios can be expected? How to adapt or how to shape a desired alternative? Answering these will be of extreme importance for transforming Russia's doctrinal attitudes.

The main problem is that Russia's prevalent multipolar concept took shape in the late 1990s and early 2000s under the influence of decades-old ideas promoted by Yevgeny Primakov (Russian Foreign Minister in 1996–1998 and Prime Minister in 1998–1999) and his school. These Russian ideas, in turn, took into account the US theories that emerged between the 1960s and the 1980s. In other words, the basic multipolarity (and generally polarity) ideas were generated and evolved before the current tectonic shifts began. However, the same is true of Western theories on the liberal world order, which also came into being amid a different reality. The problem common to the Russian and US (Western) approaches is that they describe the past and may prove of little use for describing the present and the future.

This report will attempt to outline possible ways of adapting the concepts of polarity, multipolarity, and world order to new international realities and draft scenarios for a future world.

Russia
Source: en.fas.gov.ru

Upon refinement, the results of the joint project will be presented at the BRICS Competition Conference

On 31 July 2019, the second meeting of BRICS International Working Group for developing competition on digital markets discussed the first draft of a report on antimonopoly regulation in digital economy.

FAS was represented by Anna Atanasian, Deputy Head of International Information Communications Unit, Department of International Economic Cooperation.

"The competition authorities of BRICS economies started working on the report last year, after the first meeting of the Working Group in Sao Paolo in October 2018. Each agency prepared a brief review of the most interesting and important antimonopoly cases related to the "digital" field as well as legislative changes and initiatives in this area to be included in the report", described Anna Atanasian.

The draft law contains particular characteristics by BRICS economies and a comparative analysis of the challenges facing BRICS antimonopoly regulators such as Big Data, price algorithms, acquisition of start-ups by incumbents, breakthrough innovations, etc., as well as an analysis of the existing and potential mechanisms of resolving them.

"The world landscape is changing rapidly; globalization and digitalization of the economy are gaining momentum pretty fast. Therefore, even the scope of work on preparing the report, undertaken by us last year now needs additions and corrections. Talking about FAS, recently we have implemented numerous digital initiatives, and no fewer are planned for the near future. Other antimonopoly bodies of BRICS countries also have rich experiences in the field of digital economy and are aware of the importance to continue working on the report", commented Anna Atanasian.

Members of the Working Group agreement to make the required changes to the draft report and discuss the preliminary results of the joint project at the VI BRICS Competition Conference in Moscow on 16-19 September 2019.

Background:

The co-chairs of the International Working Group for developing competition on digital markets are the competition authorities of Brazil and Russia. The decision to form the Working Group was made at the meeting of BRICS antimonopoly bodies in Brasilia in 2017.

BRICS competition authorities recognized the need to adopt competition law and enforcement to the new digital realities and agreed to prepare a report on digital economy.

South Africa
Source: www.iol.co.za

CAPE TOWN – Desperate times require desperate, and yes, unpopular measures such as a tightening of exchange controls and introduction of new prescribed assets.

South Africa finds itself at the wrong side of the global business cycle and export markets are unlikely to lend support to the economy, let alone the fiscus. With unemployment surging, a desperate need for capital projects to get off the ground but a lack of funds is a serious drag on the economy.

South Africa's cost to tap global bond markets could also rise significantly.

With the credit rating agencies getting more uncomfortable by the day as it seems that South Africa is dragging its feet in fixing the ailing parastatals and getting its own finances in order the chances are increasing that the country's sovereign rating may soon be cut to junk status by Moody's. The country's junk status rating by Fitch and Standard & Poor's may even slip further.

If South Africa suffers a ratings downgrade by Moody's and the others, it remains to be seen whether South Africa's 10-year government bond yield will stay on the BRICS 10-year government bond yield curve given the BRICS' countries' credit ratings or join the Africa curve. At this stage it seems that the global bond markets are already anticipating a ratings downgrade relative to the other BRICS members. There is a risk that the SA 10-year government bond yield may jump by 150 basis points or more to 10 percent if the Africa curve comes into play.

Savings are a cornerstone of economic development.

According to the Asisa numbers as per at the end of the first quarter this year, the assets of South Africa Multi-Asset Funds, that to some extent can be referred to some sort of retirement funds or pension funds, amounted to R1 037 billion of which R271bn were invested offshore – therefore 26 percent.

From the 2018 27 Four BEE.conomics Transformation in South African Asset Management Survey it was estimated that the total assets of pension funds was R3 619bon of which R1 660bn is managed by the PIC. The December 2018 Survey of Retirement Fund Investment Managers by Alexander Forbes indicated that the average global allocation was about 25 percent for global balanced managers.


The Regulation 28 limits for pension funds are 30 percent for global assets and investments in Africa outside SA is 10 percent.

The total assets of SA Multi-Asset collective investment schemes and pension funds outside those managed by the PIC are therefore approximately R3 trillion. If a 25 percent offshore component is applied it amounts to about R750bn or around $50bn. Currently the pension funds managed by the PIC have an offshore plus Africa component of approximately 10 percengt – the same as the GEPF. It therefore leaves the members of the GEPF at a serious disadvantage to members of other pension funds and individuals who can manage their own retirement funds to comply with Regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act.

SA is desperate to attract foreign investment. At the same time the economy cannot afford allowing scarce capital to leave our shores via disinvestment by local institutions. What sense does it make for the government to borrow $1m offshore and then allows an institution or company to take it out to invest offshore?

If the playing fields are levelled and the PIC increases the offshore component of the funds it manages to 25 percent it means that the PIC needs to boost its offshore holdings by more than R200bn or $13bn at today's exchange rate. It therefore needs to sell South African assets equal to the same amount.

The impact on the South African economy will be disastrous to say the least and even much worse than a downgrade of South Africa's debt to junk status by Moody's which will see the country falling out of global bond indexes.

A moratorium needs to be placed on any further offshore investments by SA pension and retirement funds.

Has the time perhaps arrived for pension funds and other funds such as the CIS SA multi-asset funds to repatriate some of their offshore holdings?

If the Regulation 28 limits for pension funds and CIS SA multi-asset funds are lowered to 20 percent up to R150bn or $10bn at current exchange rates could be repatriated, while a lowering to 15 percent could amount up to R300bn. To ensure that the repatriated funds are productively employed in the economy a new prescribed asset class may or should be introduced – a minimum exposure to a South African sovereign fund.

There is an urgent need to establish a South African sovereign fund aimed to fund specific projects to fast-track economic development. Such a fund could be a US dollar or Chinese yuan or other hard currency denominated fund. This will allow effective indirect exposures to hard currencies and could be open to all investors, including other sovereign funds.

China
Source: www.china.org.cn

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Environment Ministry is negotiating a 500-million-U.S. dollar loan for basic sanitation projects, state news agency Agencia Brasil reported Friday.

The fund is expected to be received from the BRICS' New Development Bank next year and may be forwarded to local administrations to be used in sanitation networks, waste management and renewable energy, the agency said.

Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, who participated this week in a meeting in Sao Paulo with the environment ministers of the other BRICS countries (Russia, India, China and South Africa), said the government will study how to best implement the projects.

"We must now study the best way for the immediate implementation of the resources, whether it will be made through transfers to consortia of municipalities and individual town governments or if the government will set up federal waste management infrastructure in partnership with the municipal governments," he said.

The news of the loan may offer some respite to the Brazilian government, which has been facing environmental challenges lately.

Germany and Norway, major donors to the Amazon Fund, which is aimed at reducing deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest, recently suspended their contributions due to disagreements with the administration's environmental policy. Enditem

India
Source: www.hindustantimes.com

Citing the example of rapid, double-digit growth achieved by China for more than two decades, New Development Bank (NDB) president KV Kamath said India can leverage the potential of the four-five key drivers to achieve its ambitious target.

The Indian economy is resilient enough to withstand any global headwinds and become a $5 trillion economy in five years by posting an annual average growth rate of 10%, propelled by key growth drivers such as infrastructure, manufacturing and technology-driven services transformation, New Development Bank (NDB) president K.V. Kamath said.

The current downturn in the automobile sector is not specific to India and it is a global phenomenon in which people are increasingly opting for alternative modes of transport, said Kamath, former chief of ICICI Bank Limited who in 2015 took over as the first president of the Shanghai-based NDB, established by the BRICS group that consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Car sales in India have declined for nine straight months, with demand for new automobiles in July declining around 30% from a year ago.

"Will India's growth aspirations be throttled because of this global uncertainty? Answer is very simply no. Reason is -- there is such a lot of developmental work that can be done in India, and I will cite examples of what and how, that will keep us engaged and keep us driving," Kamath told visiting journalists in Shanghai on Friday.

Kamath was replying to a query about India's aspiration of becoming a $5 trillion economy at a time of global geo-political uncertainties, a tariff war triggered by the United States under the Trump administration and signs of a slowdown in major European economies. The economy is expected to grow to $3 trillion this fiscal year from $2.7 trillion, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

Citing the example of rapid, double-digit growth achieved by China for more than two decades, Kamath said India can leverage the potential of the four-five key drivers to achieve its ambitious target.

India is yet to harness the potential of water and animal husbandry, he said, while infrastructure is an area that requires huge investments.

Kamath said manufacturing is one of the key growth drivers that has received government incentives.

"Still there's a lot to be done [in that area]," he said, adding that services transformation driven by digitization and technology was another potential growth driver. He said this model can be "scalable and replicable" in other member-countries of the NDB as well.

In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government was determined to make India a $5 trillion economy in the next five years through several initiatives, including Rs 100 lakh crore of investment in infrastructure.

"In the last 70 years we became a $2 trillion economy, but in the last five years, we added $1 trillion to the economy. This gives me the confidence of becoming a $5 trillion economy in the coming years," he said.

NDB was set up to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries. As of August 15, 2019, the bank had approved 38 projects worth $10.2 billion.

At the sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, in 2014, member-countries signed an agreement to establish NDB. The first meeting of NDB's board of governors was chaired by Russia on the eve of the Ufa Summit on July 7, 2015 and Kamath was appointed its president. After the signing of the headquarters agreement with China and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the NDB became fully operational on February 27, 2016.

Russia
Source: tass.com

Some of the events will take place in Chelyabinsk, but the summits themselves, in St. Petersburg, the Russian president ruled

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to move the 2020 summit meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS from Chelyabinsk to St. Petersburg. The decree was published on the official werbsite of legal information.


At a meeting with the acting governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, Alexei Teksler, on July 19, Putin said that the Russia-chaired BRICS and SCO summits would be held in St. Petersburg, and not in Chelyabinsk that was originally selected as the venue. As the list of participants has expanded, some of the events will take place in Chelyabinsk, but the summits themselves, in St. Petersburg, Putin said.

Brazil
Source: www.bricspolicycenter.org

On July 25, 2019, BRICS Policy Center hosted the lecture "BRICS National Innovation System", given by the Economist José Eduardo Cassiolato, associate professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and RedeSistCoordinator. The debate was also attended by Luis Manuel Rabelo Fernandes, professor at IRI/PUC-Rio and coordinator of the Innovation and Governance of Development Program (PIGD).

The lecture is a continuation of the series of events about the BRICS organized by BPC on the occasion of the 2019 Summit, to be hosted in Brazil. The "BRICS Series" inauguration previously featured a lecture by Professor Paulo Nogueira Batista Jr. on "The New Multilateral Development Banks (NDB-BRICS and AIIB) and the International Financial System". Similar meetings will be held by BPC over the coming months.

At the event, Cassiolato sought to discuss the role of BRICS public and private sector institutions in the development of new innovative technologies, as well as to discuss the current framework in which these systems find themselves, also their limitations and future perspectives. The professor highlighted in detail the processes present in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, in the view of the effects that the 2008 crisis had on the development of Research and Development (R&D) of these countries.

For the economist, the crisis had a multifaceted aspect and presented significant factors that justify its persistence: the hypertrophy of markets and financial assets, and the sharp increase in inequality of income distribution. Since 2011, this situation has deepened, affecting production, investment and international trade, which has experienced a large increase in protectionism.

At the end of the event, the audience attended an open debate on the issues raised throughout the lecture and also discussed the research agenda on the BRICS national innovation systems, since, according to Cassiolato, it is necessary to move forward on a conceptual and methodological collective proposal capable of discovering the dynamics of sustainable and socially inclusive systems of innovation, especially those that are often left out of usual academic research and public policy.